KIM FOXX, COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY
IN HER OFFICE, HOLDING A BRICK FROM CABRINI GREEN, CHICAGO IL
Place of special meaning: The place that most resonates with me is where I grew up. It was a public housing complex called Cabrini Green. It's no longer there. Where I used to live at Division and Larrabee is now a Target, and then there's just a big swath of open field. I think of that place, often, particularly in the work that I do, because it was, at the time, symbolic of all of these failures of government that were being pushed as failures of people. My whole mission in life, particularly in the work that I do here, is recognizing that in those neighborhoods that have been devastated by failed policies, there is brilliance and talent and purpose that requires me to see them with a vision that other people can't.
Running for office and engaging with her community: What is it like to run an office like this, that disproportionately impacts communities of color, disproportionately impacts neighborhoods like the one that I grew up in? And to get in the office and say, I'm one of you. I'm actually not vanilla...And so that's why I ran, because it's an office that impacts disproportionately communities like the one I grew up in. The people who elect those positions, generally live the furthest away from the problems...For so long, we gave the power to people who had the distance and not power to the people who were proximate. I want to be a proximate, powerful leader.
Expressing vulnerability in public office: I know the trope. I've seen the trope, the angry black woman. I've had to hold my face and hold myself together. But it's a trope that is designed to stifle, right? The whole point of it is to get you to shut up. Again, the weaponry is different. It's more sophisticated now. It is used to silence. I care about these people and sometimes it's emotional. In fact, the headline today was “Kim Foxx chokes up,” as though it’s somehow soft of me to cry… But to that, I say f*** ‘em.